Notre nouvelle huile d'olive vierge extra 2024 est arrivée !

Notre nouvelle huile d'olive vierge extra 2024 est arrivée !

Situés au cœur du Douro, nos 6 hectares de 800 oliviers ont entre 50 et 100 ans.

L'huile d'olive, élément essentiel de la diète méditerranéenne et reconnue comme patrimoine culturel immatériel par l'UNESCO, continue de gagner en importance à Quinta do Tedo dans le cadre de notre offre de tourisme rural et gastronomique.

L'olivotourisme gagnant du terrain, nous avons investi dans des visites de fermes et de pressoirs d'olives et dans des formations techniques de dégustation d'huile d'olive pour nos Guides Touristiques, et nous vous proposons une Dégustation d'Huile d'Olive unique qui compare trois huiles d'olive vierges extra de différentes régions (y compris l'huile d'olive bio de notre Quinta do Tedo).

Nous continuons à planter des oliviers dans les espaces libres situés entre ou en bordure de nos 12 hectares de vignobles et des matos (forêt arbustive méditerranéenne). Compte tenu de ce qui précède et de l'histoire de l'huile d'olive portugaise ci-dessous, vous comprendrez pourquoi...

— extrait écrit par Odile Bouchard pour le blog touristique portugais d'un partenaire de 2022 —

"Les oliviers sont cultivés depuis 5 000 ans avant J.-C., d'abord en Iran, en Syrie et en Palestine, puis par l'Empire Romain à travers le bassin méditerranéen jusqu'au Portugal, où ces arbres résistants à la sécheresse, au feu et à la pourriture prospèrent. Les Maures ont perfectionné l'oléiculture au Portugal à partir des années 1700. Le terme portugais désignant l'huile d'olive, azeite, vient en fait de al-zeit, mot arabe signifiant « jus d'olive ».

Au fil des siècles, l'huile d'olive est devenue une partie intégrante du régime alimentaire et de l'économie méditerranéenne, considérée comme de « l'or liquide » car elle n'est ni facile à produire ni économique à consommer. Elle était appréciée et échangée comme source de nutrition, de médecine et même de combustible pour l'éclairage au milieu du XVe siècle. Aujourd'hui, les Portugais consomment en moyenne 8 litres d'huile d'olive par personne par an.

Les Italiens et les Espagnols achetaient et revendaient l'huile d'olive portugaise comme leur propre huile, d'où son manque de réputation internationale. La production d'huile d'olive portugaise a également chuté dans les années 1960 avec l'introduction de la margarine, une matière grasse moins chère et supposée plus saine. Lorsque le Portugal a rejoint l'UE en 1986, le gouvernement a offert aux agriculteurs des subventions pour détruire les oliveraies non rentables dans afin de mieux utiliser les terres à des fins agricoles.

Au début des années 2000, profitant de la réputation internationale croissante de l'huile d'olive comme « aliment sain » et même comme produit de luxe, le gouvernement et les entrepreneurs portugais ont commencé à investir dans la production et la promotion de leur huile d'olive nationale, icône de la culture et de la gastronomie portugaises, à un prix qui pourrait leur rapporter de l'argent (bien que l'huile d'olive portugaise soit encore très abordable pour sa qualité !) L'attention s'est portée sur les oliviers restants qui ont été plantés sur les terrasses en pierre du Douro (pour remplacer les vignobles ravagés par le phylloxéra à la fin des années 1800), et dans le sud du Portugal (pour soutenir le boom de l'industrie de la mise en conserve des sardines dans les années 1900).

Aujourd'hui, les six appellations d'origine protégée (AOP) d'huile d'olive portugaise remportent des médailles d'or lors de concours internationaux et ornent la haute-cuisine Michelin. Depuis 2016, le Portugal est le 8e producteur mondial d'huile d'olive de qualité - l'huile d'olive portugaise reçoit enfin la reconnaissance qu'elle mérite."

À Quinta do Tedo, nous cultivons les principales variétés du Douro - Cordovil, Cobrançosa, Verdeal, Carrasquenha et Moleirinha - de manière bio et sans irrigation.

Outre la production d'un produit de haute qualité, traditionnel et délicieux, les oliviers ajoutent de la biodiversité à notre domaine de 18 hectares et à la réserve écologique de la Rivière Tedo ; les asperges sauvages poussent sous les oliviers au printemps, et les mésanges bleues, hiboux et martinets communs nichent ou se nourrissent dans leurs branches au long de l'année.

Nos oliviers sont traditionnellement récoltés à la main fin octobre ; notre équipe les frappe avec de longs bâtons jusqu'à ce que tous les fruits mûrs tombent dans des filets répartis autour de leurs bases.

Nos olives sont ensuite pressées à froid en lot individuel (et non mélangées à celles d'autres producteurs, comme c'était le cas dans les coopératives jusqu'à ce que des moulins indépendants commencent à ouvrir au début des années 2000) dans notre moulin bio à proximité.

Notre nouvelle huile d'olive décante pendant l'hiver - les températures froides facilitent la sédimentation des solides et des impuretés restants - avant d'être mise en bouteille et étiquetée à la main. Le résultat final ? Notre huile d'olive vierge extra, fruitée et intense, avec une touche épicée et poivrée, un milieu de bouche plein et une longue finale - iconique, délicieuse et gastronomique !

L'huile d'olive extra vierge de Quinta do Tedo est un best-seller, elle est de nouveau en stock avec un nouveau lot de 2024, et elle est disponible à l'achat et expedition ((UE, États-Unis, Royaume-Uni) via notre Salle de Dégustation, boutique en ligne ou bon de commande traditionnel, ou par email à commandes_orders@quintadotedo.com. Nous nous réjouissons de partager les premières bouteilles avec vous !

~ Odile & Kay Bouchard

Our new 2024 Extra Virgin Olive Oil has arrived!

Our new 2024 Extra Virgin Olive Oil has arrived!

Located in the heart of Douro Valley, our 6 hectares of 800 olive trees range between 50 to 100 years old.

Olive oil, an essential part of the Mediterranean Diet and recognised as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, continues to gain prominence at Quinta do Tedo as part of our rural tourism and gastronomy offering. 

With olivitourism on the rise, we’ve invested in olive farm and press visits and technical tasting training for our Tour Guides, and launched our unique Olive Oil Tasting to compare three Extra Virgin Olive Oils from different regions (including Quinta do Tedo's Organic Olive Oil).

In any free space between or bordering our 12 hectares of vineyards and local matos (low-lying Mediterranean shrub forest) we continue to plant olive trees. Given the above, and some Portuguese olive oil history for further context below, you’ll understand why…

— excerpt written by Odile Bouchard for a 2022 partner’s Portuguese travel blog —

“Olive trees have been cultivated since 5.000 BC, starting in Iran, Syria and Palestine and further spread by the Roman Empire spread across the Mediterranean basin into Portugal, where these drought-, fire-, and decay-resistant trees thrive. The Moors fine-tuned oliviculture in Portugal from the 1700s onwards. The Portuguese word for olive oil, azeite, actually hails from al-zeit, the Arabic word for “olive juice”. 

Over centuries, olive oil became an integral part of the Mediterranean diet and economy, considered “liquid gold” as it’s not easy to produce nor cheap to consume and was cherished and traded as a source of nutrition, medicine and even fuel for lighting in the mid-1500s. Today, Portuguese consume an annual average of 8 liters of olive oil per person. 

Italians and Spanish used to purchase and resell Portuguese olive oil as their own, hence its lack of an international reputation. Portuguese olive oil production also crashed in the 1960s with the introduction of margarine, a cheaper and allegedly healthier fat. When Portugal joined the EU in 1986, the government further offered farmers subsidies to destroy unprofitable olive groves throughout Portugal to make better agricultural use of the land.

In the early 2000s, piggybacking on quality olive oil’s growing international reputation as a “healthy food” and even a luxury good, Portuguese government officials and businessmen started to invest in the production and promotion of their national olive oil, an icon of Portuguese culture and gastronomy, for a price closer to what it’s worth and what could make them money (although Portuguese olive oil is still super affordable!) Focus turned to the remaining olive trees that were planted on Douro Valley’s stone-wall terraces to replace phylloxera ravaged vineyards in the late 1800s, and in Southern Portugal to support the 1900s sardine canning industry boom.

Today, Portugal’s six olive oil DOPs (Protected Designation of Origin) win gold medals at international competitions and adorn Michelin haute-cuisine and, since 2016, Portugal has been the world’s 8th largest quality olive oil producer - Portuguese olive oil is finally receiving the recognition it deserves.”

At Quinta do Tedo, we cultivate Douro’s main varieties - Cordovil, Cobrançosa, Verdeal, Carrasquenha and Moleirinha - organically and without irrigation. 

Besides producing a high-quality, traditional and delicious product, olive trees add biodiversity to our 18-hectare estate and Tedo River eco-reserve; wild asparagus grow under them in Spring, and blue tits, field owls and the common swift nest or feed in their branches throughout the year.

Our olive trees are traditionally hand-harvested in late-October; our team hits them with long sticks until all their ripe fruit falls into nets spread around their bases, propped up at the ends to ensure no olives are lost down the steep slopes into Tedo River.

Our olives are then cold-pressed as an individual batch (not mixed with other producers’, as was done in cooperatives until independent mills began opening in the early 2000s) at our nearby organic mill.

Our fresh olive oil decants over winter - cooler temperatures help sediment out remaining solids and impurities - before bottling and hand-labelling. The end result? Our iconically fruity and intense Extra Virgin Olive Oil with mellow spice and a peppery "kick", a full mid-mouth, and a long finish - delicious and gastronomic!

Quinta do Tedo’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a best seller, it’s back in stock with a fresh new 2024 batch, and it’s available for purchase and delivery (EU/USA/UK) in our Tasting Room, Shop Online or Traditional Order Forms, or by email to commandes_orders@quintadotedo.com. We look forward to sharing the first bottles with you!

~ Odile & Kay Bouchard

The Feitoria stone's mark on Douro Valley history

One of Quinta do Tedo's feitoria stone markers. I wrote last month about Quinta do Tedo’s 4.5 km nature trail that proudly includes feitoria stones.  Think feitoria = fattoria = farm, and in Douro Valley a farm means a vineyard.  What is the reason for these stone markers ?

Strong-fisted Marquês de Pombal, responsible for demarcating Douro wine region.

As a way to solve rampant over-production of wine in 1755, when growing prosperity had led to corruption and wine adulteration, it was decided by the Marquês de Pombal, Prime Minister of Portugal, to establish a demarcated Douro wine region, the 1st official wine region of the world.  Between 1755 and 1761 a rigorous land survey registered all vineyards in the Douro, an official map  and the A – F vineyard classification system were created, that is still used today. 335 feitoria stones, large rectangular granite markers were erected with the word Feitoria and the year chiseled on the face; the best quality wine was made within these boundaries, destined to the export market.  Made of long-lasting granite as opposed to the softer schist so typical of the Douro region, today 103 are still standing and 2 can be found at Quinta do Tedo.

Statue of strong-fisted Marquês de Pombal, at entrance to Peso da Regua - in granite, of course!

Typical Douro Valley schist wall - stones are softer and smaller stones keep soil in place.

Another kind of marker - showing how to arrive to Quinta do Tedo

Always time to enjoy a glass of Quinta do Tedo port or Douro DOC wines - cumprimentos!

The Douro Valley – Burgundy Connection

King Afonso, 1st King of Portugal in the 1100s, from the Duchy of Burgundy lineage. There is a historic and present day connection between Douro Valley and Burgundy; let me recount the historic connection, according partly to Vincent and partly to legitimate sources.

It was during the Moorish invasion (back in the 1000s) when more muscle was needed to fight, that the Duchy of Burgundy, more powerful at the time than the Kingdom of France, was asked to help Spain.

Sao Pedro das Águias, once a Cistercian monastery in the what is today Douro Valley.

Thanks to Spain’s and the Duchy of Burgundy’s bravura, the Moors were defeated and indebted King Alfonso of Spain strategically gave his daughter, Teresa, in marriage to Henry, the younger son of Henry of Burgundy, (native of Dijon!).  As part of her dowry was included the northwest of Spain that became part of Portugal.  Their son, Afonso I, became the first King of Portugal. The House of Burgundy, or Afonsine Dynasty, ruled the Kingdom of Portugal from 1143-1383, and it was during this time that the region’s vineyards, to include what is today Douro Valley, were further developed by Cistercian monks, most probably Burgundian!

Douro View from Maramalal - Version 3

The Douro Valley - Burgundy connection surfaces again in this century, with regards to UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Douro Valley received UNESCO status in 2001, based on the criteria of human influence on its development over the last 2000 years of winemaking that have shaped it into a terraced, vine-covered, wine-producing destination.  Burgundy awaits UNESCO World Heritage status to be decided in June 2015, with criteria majorly based on the “climats”, or individual vineyard parcels, that differentiate Burgundy from other viticultural regions in the world.  It is the “terroir” that Burgundy is famous for; the differences from one row to the next can be so acute. The area lies roughly between Dijon and Beaune.

In Burgundy the history of climats dates back to the monks at the Cluny and Citeaux Abbeys in the 1000s, who began the culture of vineyard delineation. This is roughly the same time that the Cistercian monks brought their knowledge of the vine to what become Portugal.  Small world, even back then.

Fingers crossed and long live the Douro Valley – Burgundy connection.